Machine for washing



2. Sheets-Sheet, 1.

- C. DUHEM. Machine for Washing; Sizing, and'Amalga-mating .Gold' and" Silver; No. 224,406. Patented Fb 10, 18,80.

NJEI'ERS, mro-umoammzn, WASHINGTON. D. C.

To all whom it may concern r UNITED STATES PATENT O FICE.

CONSTANT ounnivnon DENVER'OOLORADO.

MACHINE FOR WASHING, sl zme, AND AMALGAMATING com AND SILVER.

, SPECIFICATION armin partof'LetterspPatent o. 224,406, dated February 10, 1880;

' Application filed November 22, 1877.

Be it known that I, OoNs'rANT DUHEM, of the city of Denver, county of Arapah-oe, and State of Colorado, have-invented anew and lmproved Gold Saving {Apparatus and -I hereby declare the following tobe afull-,'clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsl'making part of this specification, in which 7 Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section'of my amalgamator. Fig.2 isasideelevation. Fig. 3 is a view of the spring riffle-sp'out.

The object of my invention is; to provide a machine for washing and amalgamating gold ores;'and it consists, first, in a, grated dump-' ing-gate that removes the bowlders from the gravel or ore; secondly, in a series of concentric conical separators provided with screw- 'conveyers located in a water-tank, and having means offeeding the oreinto the conical separators, and discharging-chutes to carry off the different-sized tailings; and, thirdly, in a peculiarly-arranged series of amalgainatingplates, in combination with a series of thin "sheets of water forced upward from the bottom, and supplemental plates, which the water passes beneath.v v I In order that those skilled in theart may make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the manner in which. I have carried it out; I l

In the said drawings, A is a platform for is the reception of the ore pr gravel, and issubstantially a grate having its bars two inches in width and two and one-half inches apart. Each alternate bar A? has one end resting on the end of the frame and the other end'attached to a revo ving cross-bar, P, which is rotated by means f a cam, A, and a lever, A. This rotation raises the alternate bars A to any desired/ angle and leaves the spaces between the remaining bars open to the extent of seven inchestand all the gravel-0r ore of less than severtsinches'in diameter drops into the hopper 0, while all over that'size is raised by bars A and hirown off the grate.

, Beneaththe ate is a four-sided funnelshaped hopper, G, to receive the ore.

" rotatingon a horizontal central shaft, I, hav

ing its bearings in standards M M at each end of the platform; Thissizer or separator- ;D, which has coarse openings, has a spiral flange, V, from end to end, acting as a screwconveyer to feed the ore toward the chute O."

Surro'undingthe cone D is fine-meshed cone E, also having a screw-conveyer, V, interposed between it and cone D, audits lines not parand projections n on cone D, which strike asthe cone rotates, allows the light. sand to float cone D into hopper O is a communicating collar, K, through which theorepasses-from the hopper into the cone, and. around this collar is a pulley, N, to rotate the cones by means of a driving-belt. Y

allel to the lines of cone D, the divergence 0E into F and pass among the tailings. From a The finest particles of sand and float-gold pass through the meshes of cone E and drop on the amalgamating-plates, which area-rranged across the bottomof a water-tank, T, in which the cones are partially submerged. These amalgamating-plates G are one or more feet in height, and are placed so their plates are at right angles toeaoh other and their edges meet at it, each pair forminga triangle with a portion of the bottom of the tank. Each alternate plate of the series G has over it and raking upward toward the front, and parallel with it, a supplemental plate, 7', and between it and the contiguous plate G is forced a stream of water through nozzles H H,

constructed so as to-project a thin sheet of water upward, as indicated by the arrows. The sand that falls on these diagonal plates, and which would accumulate at the bottom, is

kept continually in motion by the streams Any suitable valve or adjustable opening can be made to the chute F, so as to control the height of water in the tank.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The dump-table consisting of the stationary grates A and the tilting grates A lying horizontally with the stationary grates to receive the material, but capable of being tilted to discharge rocks and bowlders, substantially as herein described.

2. The hinged tilting grates A provided with lever P and connecting-bar, in combination with the hand-lever A, rod B, and cam A all constructed and operated substantially as set forth.

3. The conical grated or foraminous exterior and interior cylinders D E, rotating upon a common axis, as shown, said cylinders having spiral feeding-flanges around their interior, and constructed to rotate with their larger end in a tank of water, T, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

4. The apron F, with its transverse riffles supported in the tank T, to receive the material 'from the outer cylinder, E, and having a tossing motion communicated to it by means of the spring-support n and projections n to separate the gold nuggets from the fine gravel, substantially as herein described.

5. The tank T, with its bottom divided into a series of hopper-shaped compartments and provided with amalgamating-plates or partitions G, in combination with nozzles H at the bottom, to project a sheet of water under pressure, and the supplemental amalgamatingplates 1", underneath which the water passes, substantially as herein described.

6. A machine for washing gold and silver, consisting of the receiving-platform A, discharge-hopper O, and the concentric cylinders D E, and separating-apron F, in combination with the tank T, having its bottom formed into the hopper-shaped amalgamating-compart ments and provided with the directing-plates, to discharge the material from one compartment to the next and to separate the light from the more valuable parts, substantially as herein described.

Denver, Colorado, October 13, 1877. a

, CONSTANT DUHEM. 'Witnesses:

JOHN Q. A. KING, JOHN ERll/LERINS. 

